THE Mass

I posted on Tad's FB wall yesterday that he's had this mass growing on his left side for about a month now. It's a strange looking fellow, but we decided to watch it for a week or two and see what happens. Here we are, a month later and it's still there...very slowly getting bigger, but really...doesn't seem to bother him.

Two different types of masses/growths came to mind immediately, Mast Cell Tumor and Histiocytoma.

Mast Cell Tumors are a type of cancer. They can look like anything and are scary little devils.

Histiocytomas are very common in young dogs, and they will generally 'fall off' on their own. No need to worry with them.

We decided to go ahead and aspirate the growth to get some cells and look under the microscope. We can usually diagnose these two types of tumors without issue here in the clinic.

However, Tad is NOT a very good patient...especially when you come at his man-area with a needle.

You're going to put that needle where!?

 We didn't get a very good sample from the mass, so our cytology was inconclusive. Figures.

So, now I'm trying to decide if I should go ahead and remove it or leave it alone. Let me explain why I don't just 'rip the thing off'...then perhaps together we can make an educated decision.

IF it's a Histiocytoma, there's no reason to knock him out and remove it. In a few months, it'll fall off on it's own and not only will we save money, we won't have to put him under.

IF it's Mast Cell and we wait (because we think it's a Histiocytoma) it can and likely will spread. You never want to wait to remove Mast Cells, especially when you make them angry by poking them with a needle.

It could also simply be a cyst...which would be GREAT. However, if we go mashing and squeezing the heck out of it to get it to pop...and it's a Mast Cell...then we run the risk of making things a lot worse.

So, you see my predicament?! I will probably just knock the silly boy out and remove it...but, then...I'd probably try again to get the turd to sit still long enough and not bite so we can get a better sample. :/

Here's the picture of his little friend, we shall call him, Martin the Mass. ;)

Martin the Mass